Seam opener



April 21, 1931. I KETTERER 1,801,630

SEAM OPENER Filed Feb. 27- 23 INVENTOR.

\ A TTORNEYS,

Patented Apr.- 21, 1931 UNITED STATES ALEXANDER KETTERER, F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN SEAM OPENER Application filedlebruary 27, 1928. Serial No. 257,398.

This invention relates to improvements in seam openers.

Heretofore, various makeshift articles have been used to rip open seams in garments when repairing or altering the latter.

Old safety razor blades have been commonly employed for this purpose, and these have been found to be difficult to hold and'dangerous to the user. Knives and scissors, which are inconvenient to handle, have also been resorted to, mainly because of the lack of a more efficient tool. 1 7

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide, as a new article of manufacture, an

improved seam opener for the use of tailors,

housewives, and others, which is convenient to use and in which the danger of cutting oneself, which is attendant upon the use of safety razor blades and the like, is minimized.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an improved seam opener equipped with an annular holder to receive the thumb or finger of the user, thereby rendering the device very convenient to handle.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a seam opener which may be constructed of a single strip of metal, rendering the device simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

30 It is a further object of this invention to provide a seam opener which will expedite the altering of garments.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a seam opener which is very efiicient, and well adapted for the purpose described.

With the above and other objects in View the invention consists of the improved seam opener and all its parts and combinations, as set forth in the clalm, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing, in which the same reference characters designate the same parts in all of the views: 7

Fig. 1 is a view of the device positioned on the thumb of a user, showing a strip of material in which the seam is being ripped open;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the seam opener; and

Fig. 3 is an edge view thereof.

Referring to the drawing, the device com prises a strip of bendable metal which is curled up to form a substantially ring-shapeol holder'o. The inner end of the'strip 6 is within the holder portion, and the outer end extends out obliquely and is tapered off to 7 that by using this invention a seam may be ripped open very quickly. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the ring fits tightly on the thumb, there is no danger of the device slipping and cutting the user, as is the case in using razor blades and the like.

Another advantageous feature lies in the fact that it is only necessary to sell the device in one size, as the holder may be readily bent and adjusted to fit any thumb.

It is obvious that various modifications of this device may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention, such as constructing it in more than one piece.

From the foregoing description it may be seen that the improved seam opener is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and well adapted for the purpose described.

What I claim is:

As a new article of manufacture, a seam opener comprising a single elongated flat strip of material, one end of said strip being curled up on itself to form an annular finger engaging portion and the opposite end of said strip extending outwardly to form a blade portion, said blade having a cutting edge thereon, and being twisted so that the surface of the blade portion extends in a plane at substantially right angles to the plane of the surface of the adjacent portion of the strip and so that the edge of the blade is in the line of elongation of the strip and between the planes of the edges thereof.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

ALEXANDER KETTERER. 

